It is about time to get serious about cutting spending
For the last several years, Washington Democrats have been demanding a “balanced” approach to deficit reduction that consists of spending cuts and more revenue from tax increases. With the president’s re-election in November and the Democrats picking up additional Senate and House seats, they feel the wind at their backs and are now claiming an electoral mandate for balanced debt reduction. Today, three months after the election, how have they done so far in implementing this alleged mandate?
In just three months, we have seen a “fiscal cliff” deal that increased spending by $330 billion and raised taxes by $600 billion, a $50 billion Hurricane Sandy relief bill that included billions of pork that was completely unrelated to Sandy, and a debt ceiling deal that empowers the federal government to take on an unlimited amount of new debt for almost four months without any new spending restraint.